(CNN)As thousands of people without homes or utilities try to recover from the deadliest day of tornadoes during the month of December in US history, efforts are now turning to the arduous tasks of rebuilding shattered communities.
A candlelight vigil was held Tuesday night in Mayfield, one of the hardest-hit towns in western Kentucky, a region where at least 74 people lost their lives. Amidst prayers and hymns, pastors from area churches spoke about those who had been lost and the challenges facing those who have survived.
By Monday, electric power was restored to about 10,000 Kentucky customers, according to state emergency management director Michael Dossett, and roughly 18,500 outages are active.
These figures do not even include Mayfield, a town of 10,000 people, which he said, "doesn't exist." Power in the town will take "weeks and months" to rebuild, he said.
"Being on the ground will take your breath away," Dossett said of the catastrophic damage. "It is simply indescribable in some places."
At least 14 others were killed in Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri. More than 60 tornado reports were made in eight states in the Midwest and South Friday night and Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Multiple reports can refer to the same tornado, and weather service crews have yet to determine how many twisters hit the region.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said more than 500 members of the National Guard were on the ground assisting with tasks, including search-and-extraction, clearing routes and traffic control.
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Devin Carlton consoles his fiancee, Asiah Alubahi, outside of where their former apartment used to be in Mayfield, Kentucky, on Monday, December 13. "We came back to try and recover the ultrasound of our daughter that we lost to a miscarriage in 2015," Alubahi said. "I started crying when we found it."
Hide Caption
1 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Hannah Binder climbs out of her car in Edwardsville, Illinois, on December 13. She was gathering some personal items from the car after it had been hit by a tree on Friday.
Hide Caption
2 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Anthony Vasquez plays with his 4-month-old son, Michael, inside a makeshift shelter in Wingo, Kentucky, on December 13.
Hide Caption
3 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
J'il Wimbley looks over his sister's high school yearbook, which he found in the remains of his father's home in Mayfield on December 13. Wimbley's father, who was the only one home at the time of the tornado, took cover under a dining table as the home collapsed.
Hide Caption
4 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
The devastation in Mayfield is seen through a broken bedroom window on December 12.
Hide Caption
5 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Red Cross volunteers sort donations at South Warren High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on December 12 for people affected by tornadoes.
Hide Caption
6 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Search-and-rescue crews work at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory early Sunday.
Hide Caption
7 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Desiray Cartledge, 3, stands in the rubble of her house in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, on December 12.
Hide Caption
8 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
People gather belongings from a damaged home on December 12 in Mayfield.
Hide Caption
9 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
A family photo lies among the debris inside a house on December 12 after a tornado in Dawson Springs.
Hide Caption
10 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
James Strickland prepares breakfast on the porch of his father's home on December 12 in Mayfield.
Hide Caption
11 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
The front steps of a house are all that remain standing among storm damage in Dawson Springs on December 12.
Hide Caption
12 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Destruction is seen in Mayfield on Saturday, December 11.
Hide Caption
13 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
A damaged theater is seen in Mayfield on December 11.
Hide Caption
14 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Irene Noltner, in a pink hat, consoles Jody O'Neill outside The Lighthouse, a women and children's shelter that was destroyed in Mayfield.
Hide Caption
15 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Volunteers at Henry Moss Middle School arrange donations for tornado victims on Saturday night in Bowling Green.
Hide Caption
16 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Chris Buchanan, center, and Niki Thompson, right, attempt to rescue Cheyenne, a dog, from a tornado-damaged home in Mayfield on Saturday.
Hide Caption
17 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
An overturned tree sits in front of a tornado-damaged home in Mayfield.
Hide Caption
18 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Kenny Sanford exits his mother-in-law's apartment through a collapsed wall on Saturday in Mayfield.
Hide Caption
19 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
People stand among the debris in Mayfield.
Hide Caption
20 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
A person stands among the damage and debris in Bowling Green on Saturday, December 11.
Hide Caption
21 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
A birthday card lies among the debris in Mayfield.
Hide Caption
22 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
A man walks through a damaged area at Reelfoot Lake State Park in Tiptonville, Tennessee, on Saturday.
Hide Caption
23 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Severe damage at the Monette Manor nursing home in Monette, Arkansas, is seen on Saturday. In the northeastern Arkansas city, at least one person died after a tornado damaged the nursing home Friday night, trapping others inside before they were rescued. At least 20 people were injured at the facility, Mayor Bob Blankenship told CNN.
Hide Caption
24 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
A trail of destruction is seen in Bowling Green.
Hide Caption
25 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Tom Wheeler with Peel & Holland Insurance removes what he can from his office in Mayfield.
Hide Caption
26 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
People work at the scene of a train derailment in Earlington, Kentucky.
Hide Caption
27 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Damage to Emmanuel Baptist Church in Mayfield is seen on Saturday.
Hide Caption
28 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Employees and friends of La Azteca try to salvage food items after the eatery was destroyed in downtown Mayfield.
Hide Caption
29 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
A derailed train is seen amid damage and debris in Earlington.
Hide Caption
30 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Emergency workers search through what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory.
Hide Caption
31 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Heavy damage is seen in downtown Mayfield.
Hide Caption
32 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
People search through rubble in Mayfield.
Hide Caption
33 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Damage is seen in Dickson County, Tennessee.
Hide Caption
34 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Debris and structural damage can be seen at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Mayfield early Saturday.
Hide Caption
35 of 36
Photos: Deadly tornadoes hit central and southern US
Rescue personnel work at an Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville, Illinois, that was heavily damaged during storms on Friday, December 10.
Hide Caption
36 of 36
Short and long-term FEMA recovery teams are in Kentucky, Dossett said. The agency has begun the "blue tarp process" of covering damaged homes and is also in the process of debris removal, he added.
Two teams from FEMA will work Wednesday to assess storm damage in Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. At least 300 structures were impacted by the storms, he said, with 61 destroyed.
President Joe Biden is expected to visit Kentucky on Wednesday to meet with victims and survey the damage, the White House said.
The President will ensure "that we're doing everything to deliver assistance as quickly as possible to impacted areas to support recovery efforts," press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. "He wants those on the ground to know the federal government is there to provide whatever support is needed for them."
A candlelight vigil was held Tuesday in Mayfield, Kentucky.
'I was definitely being crushed'
Mayfield is the scene of some of the most extensive damage, where more than 100 employees working at a candle factory were caught in the path of a tornado. At least eight people there died as the building was ripped apart.
Jim Douglas was in so much pain as he lay crushed beneath what he believes was 15 feet of debris that he was "praying that God would take me." Then rescue workers reached him.
"They're heroes. And not because they saved me, it's because they saved a lot of people," Douglas told CNN.
In an interview from his hospital bed, where he's recovering from nerve damage and slowly gaining back the use of his arms and legs, Douglas described how an interior wall fell on top of him, hitting him in the head and throwing him to the ground.
"It was so quick. It was like different layers would come down and I could feel my body would like compact more," he said. "I was definitely being crushed."
When rescue workers arrived about an hour later, "they couldn't have done a better job of extracting me," he said.
Douglas, who has worked at the factory for two and a half years, thought about leaving as the storm approached but decided to ride it out at the factory after talking with his family.
He said once he heals, he plans to resume working.
"Eventually I'm going to be walking and I'll be working somewhere, I promise you that," Douglas said.
Cleanup efforts in Mayfield, Kentucky, continue following deadly storms.
Deaths reported include 2-month-old
Additional deaths are being reported in western Kentucky following the string of storms.
Two-month-old Oaklynn Koon died Monday morning from the injuries she sustained when a tornado hit her grandmother's home in Dawson Springs, her paternal grandmother Audrey Carman told CNN.
The infant, her two brothers, and her parents were sheltering at her maternal grandmother's house when the tornado hit.
Koon's parents tried to protect their children by making them hide in the bathtub and covering them with couch cushions, but the tornado picked up the home and the family landed on the other side of the neighbor's house, Carman said.
"We didn't have much time with her, but we loved the time we got to spend with her," Carman told CNN.
About 70 miles east of Dawson Springs, six family members lost their lives when a tornado hit their home in Bowling Green, a relative told CNN.
Rachael Brown, 36, and Steven Brown, 35, were with their four children and Rachael's mother, Victoria Smith, 64, when a tornado hit their home.
The three adults and three of the children -- Nariah Cayshelle, 16, Nolynn, 8, and Nyles, 4 -- were killed in the tornado, Rachael Brown's aunt, Dornicho Jackson McGee, told CNN. The couple's 13-year-old daughter is still missing.
"They were very family-oriented. They loved their family. They loved their kids," McGee said.
Officials are welcoming efforts to help those in need. The Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund has raised more than $9.89 million dollars for Kentuckians, Gov. Beshear announced Tuesday. Donations can be made on their website.
U.S. - Latest - Google News
December 15, 2021 at 07:42PM
https://ift.tt/3m9mXBU
Power in some Kentucky tornado-stricken areas may take months to restore as attention turns to recovery - CNN
U.S. - Latest - Google News
https://ift.tt/2ShjtvN
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Power in some Kentucky tornado-stricken areas may take months to restore as attention turns to recovery - CNN"
Post a Comment